Protector Of The Six
by DefendTheUndefended
Summary: A Sky was chosen, but it wasn’t who was expected. He was different. He was unique. He was strong. When the Acrobaleno meet him, they are drawn close. But..how is he supposed to go through his life without blowing his cover? After all he was destined to become a shinigami. Or where Ichigo is the Sky Acrobaleno. I suck at summaries.
1. 1) True Colors

1.) True Colors

Up until he was 13 Ichigo had believed that seeing ghosts was going to be the weirdest thing that ever occurred to him.

But then he met a man that called himself checkerface.

He was a weird man that made every cell in Ichigo's veins freeze in their tracks. Checkerface had approached him and put a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, making Ichigo feel something crawl right underneath the surface of his skin.

A bright glow came from the man's pocket and he watched as Checkerface reached into and pulled out a glowing orange orb.

He watched as the man held it over Ichigo's chest, and orange wisps of what looked like flames trailed from where Ichigo's heart was to the orb.

Something seemed to snap into place in his mind and everything had gone black, an echo of a voice ringing in his ears. "You, little one..Are truly unique. I expect great entertainment from you."

Ichigo had woke up in his father's clinic, dazed, with a pounding headache.

His dad had fussed over him. A frantic and worried expression on his face the entire time.

It had taken a lot of reassuring from Ichigo that yes he was alright, before his dad would calm down enough not to look so panicked.

His dad had held him in his arms for several long minutes, before letting him go, so he could go check on Ichigo's sisters who kept calling for him.

Ichigo, despite being a tad exasperated, had let his dad do so. He knew his dad was just worried about loosing him too like they had lost Mom.

After his dad had left he noticed that he had a necklace around his neck. The orb was attached to it. When Ichigo had tried to take it off, he had placed it on the bedside table. Not a second after his hand left it, he was hit with an intense dizzy spell and his stomach churched in uncomfort. He felt lethargic and sick, and on instinct he had curled into himself for a moment before his hand shot out on its own accord and grabbed hold of the orb again.

The sickness instantly stopped and after a while of contemplation he had tentatively placed the necklace around his neck again.

That night he got another visit from Checkerface. He had immediately gone on the defensive, yelling accusations and questions of what the man had done to him.

Checkerface has listened to him, not saying a word and then suddenly when Ichigo paused for a moment, Checkerface started talker and wouldn't stop.

He explained exactly what was about to change in Ichigo's life now.

Ichigo had become the sky Acrobaleno. Upon asking what that was Checkerface had explained everything regarding flames, the mafia, the Acrobaleno, Ichigo's new position, everything.

Ichigo was left too stunned to say a single word.

Wen he expressed his disbelief Checkerface had sighed and raised a glowing hand, Ichigo automatically assumed was fire, taking Ichigo's hand with it. Ichigo had yelped and pulled back in surprise on instinct only to fall backwards when his own hand instinctively lit itself on fire with orange glowing flames.

Ichigo had panicked for a moment, trying to shake the flame off before he registered that the flame didn't hurt.

He had no choice but to believe Checkerface then.

So he became the Sky Acrobaleno.

He eventually had to tell his dad when the man had asked about the orb around his neck, that Ichigo was too scared to leave off his person. Ichigo had blanched when Checkerface had told him it was called a pacifier.

Ichigo never planned to tell anyone else though, and he never did, though he might have to tell the girls when they got a little older.

A week after he told his dad Checkerface dropped by to meet the older Kurosaki. Isshen had almost shot him in the face with a shotgun they had stowed away deep in the house for protection, despite how clumsy the doctor was, he was just that mad that the man had given his son a curse that would eventually kill him.

After Ichigo had stopped his dad, Checkerface had been forced to explain everything to Isshen who wanted every specific about his 13 year old son's curse. Isshen has almost passed out when Flames where explained, and that Ichigo was currently the strongest Sky flame possessor alive.

Then Ichigo asked about the other Acrobaleno.

He was given their names.

He wanted to meet them.

Checkerface had sighed, before eyeing Ichigo with a tad suspicious contemplation before agreeing.

The next day four tickets to Italy and a direction guide with a map of where they had to go, arrived in the mailbox.


	2. 2) Ghost

2.) Ghost

When Luce died the very few of the Acrobaleno that had formed harmonization with her had lost their Sky. Even if the harmonization was so weak it was only hanging on by a thread of the sky's determination before that.

Verde had locked himself away in his lab, immersing himself in his work, at the pain of the broken bond.

Skull had whined and cried before riding his miniaturized bike away from the others to be alone for awhile.

Lal Mirch had raged for a while, putting her trainees through the worst hell training she ha ever put them through.

Fon, Colonello, and Reborn weren't affected as badly.

Colonello had gotten to know Luce before her death, and grieved a friend, but Luce had harmonized with Lal before the curse was placed on them. And although Luce was strong she wasn't strong enough to have so much flames that she could hold two of the same guardians. So, therefore, the two never had a true flame harmonization.

Fon too grieved a friend, but not his sky. When Fon was approached by Checkerface to meet the other strongest, he may have accepted but he never truly trusted the two accomplices, Luce and Checkerface. The distrust he had towards Luce never allowed his to harmonize with the Sky user. And many years later, upon her death, he couldn't find himself to regret it.

A Sky can't take a guardian flame that has more flames, or is stronger, than themselves. Reborn knew this painful fact intimately, and he learned to begrudgingly accept it. Reborn was stronger than Luce, he had a lot more flames in his reserve than the sky had had. When they had met he had hoped he was wrong, because from what he could feel from Luce, she did have a lot of her flame. But it hadn't been enough so no harmonization was able to be formed.

Reborn didn't grieve a friend though. Luce had led them all into a trap, betrayed them. Reborn had never taken kindly to betrayal. He wasn't heartless though. So instead he grieved a life that would never have a mother's love.

When Checkerface had come to claim the sky pacifier they had all expected Luce's child, Aria, to become the new sky.

But when Checkerface had bent down in front of her, putting his hand on her shoulder and holding the pacifier between them, nothing had happened.

The pacifier had stayed a dull almost gray color.

Checkerface had hummed before letting go of Aria and stepping back.

The other Acrobaleno looked at him with raised eyebrows and confusion.

Fon had been the one to speak. "Checkerface. What happened? Why wasn't Aria's flame absorbed?"

Checkerface had hummed again, never letting his eyes leave the unresponsive pacifier. "The pacifiers only accept the strongest."

The Acrobaleno had shifted at those words, reacting in surprise, each in their own way.

Reborn pulled his fedora down to cover his eyes, contemplative. Aria was the strongest sky he knew...at the moment. And there was someone else that possessed an even stronger flame out there. A hope sparked in his chest before he viscously grabbed hold of it and shoved it down to the deepest and darkest parts of his soul.

He couldn't let himself hope.

Fon looked to Aria, using his sleeve to cover his mouth. He was slightly relieved that a child so young wouldn't have to inherit the life stealing curse, but I made him wonder..who was going to be damned to bear it.

Colonello shifted in unease, adjusting the gun he had strapped onto his back. He didn't like not knowing who was to become the newest Sky Acrobaleno. What if it was someone who abused the power?

Lal Mirche sighed from her spot against the doorframe, looking away from Checkerface and the little girl who was starting to adopt a frantic look on her face.

Verde hummed. Calculating and memorizing everything that was happening in his mind. He'd have to catalogue all this down later when he got back to his lab.

Mammon, previously named Viper, had floated on his most flames, holding up his impassive visage.

Skull had made a surprised sound, looking back and forth between the sky pacifier and Aria in confusion.

Aria was the first to speak, words bursting forth in a panicked rush. "But that's Maman's pacifier! She was the previous strongest! I'm supposed to inherit it!"

Checkerface had sighed in annoyance before leveling her with a stare through his mask. "That was what was assumed. You assumed the pacifiers where passed down through generation. They aren't and they never have been. The pacifiers only accept the strongest as their owners. Someone out there is stronger than you."

The 12 year old was left gaping, she looked back at the other Acrobaleno guardians for support but none of them that could help spared her a glance, besides Skull, who looked away nervously when her gaze landed on him.

The Acrobaleno instead watched Checkerface as the man took two steps back, and proceeded to turn his hand and let the sky pacifier fall to the floor.

It landed with a hard thump. It rolled for a moment before stopping completely. Their eyes never left the pacifier as it started to move on its own. Rolling in a circle around the floor before standing on the tip and spinning faster and faster, in one spot.

Checkerface snorted and snatched it up. Speaking offhandedly. "At least we know it's chosen someone."

And before any of them could speak Checkerface disappeared.


	3. 3) Hometown

3.) Hometown

I'm not making Ichigo Overpowered but I do think his heritage and personality plays a role in why he has so much flames.

—(xXx)—

Three days after Checkerface had disappeared, taking the sky pacifier with him, did they feel a new Acrobaleno connection form.

All seven pacifiers had flared to life before becoming dormant once more. Signifying a complete set being made.

When they probed the pacifier with their flames they could feel a new connection. Each connection in the Acrobaleno set was unique. It could only be felt through their flames, but if they searched hard enough they could feel each other through the pacifiers. Feel each other's wounds, feel their strength and flame, feel the connection.

When they looked into the new connection with their flames they had to pull back in surprise, lest they accidentally tip the new sky off about the Acrobaleno connection.

The new sky was strong. He had so much flames in his reserve it was almost unbelievable. When Reborn and Lal had touched the connection with their own flames each felt a blossom of hope swell in their chest for completely different reasons. Though they denied letting themselves feel that way for long.

They couldn't tell if this sky had his own guardians or not, they couldn't tell his age, or gender, or anything else about them. Just that he was a very strong sky. Possibly stronger than Luce had ever been.

And then after another day had passed Checkerface had contacted them.

The new sky wanted to meet them.


	4. 4) Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

4.) Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Reborn had accepted the invitation out of a sense of duty.

So in his babyfeid form he left to go towards the meeting place Checkerface had set up.

It was a park. Fairly public but had some areas that would give more privacy than others.

Walking towards the many benches, he resigned himself to waiting. He hadn't been sitting on the bench for more than a minute before a lady deemed it necessary to approach him, a worried look on his face.

Ugh. He hated dealing with people who thought he was a lost little toddler. It was useful in some situations but in others..it was just annoying.

She bent down to be level with him and opened her mouth to speak. Reborn inwardly sighed and instantly knew what she was going to say to him. "Hey, little guy. Are you lost?"

He smiled a fake cheery smile and looked at her. "No. I'm supposed to be here."

She adopted a look of worry and opened her mouth again. Reborn sighed and cut her off. "I'm waiting for someone."

She made a even more confused and worried sound before starting to reach towards him, which had Reborn leaning back on instinct. "Why don't you come with me-"

"Sora! There you are!" She was cut off by a younger male voice from their left. Both adults looked over to see a orange haired teen quickly heading in there direction, speaking in a heavily accented Italian.

The boy was looking straight at Reborn. The babyfied adult raised an eyebrow before noticing that his pacifier was a little brighter than before. Reborn quickly scanned the boy and almost instantly spotted a faint glowing bulge under the boy's hoodie.

The woman spoke, standing up, drawing the teen's attention towards her. "You know this baby?"

The boy hesitated a moment before scratching the back of his head. His voice was heavily accented. It sounded a bit like Japanese. "Ah.. Hai. He's friend of mine. Sora..I..looking for him." The teen pointed at Reborn and surprisingly didn't smile like Reborn expected him too.

The woman raised an eyebrow but nodded. She started to try and draw the teen into a conversation, and Reborn say the teen have a mental panic attack before rushing out words, grabbing Reborn to carry him as he did so. Reborn felt briefly annoyed and raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "I..gomen.. have to go!"

The teen quickly walked away before muttering to Reborn, looking down at him. "Onegaishimasu, tell me your Acrobaleno.." the boy trailed off struggling to string together the words and Reborn smirked.

"Hai."

The boy sighed in relief before looking back, making sure they were out of sight of the woman before setting Reborn down.

Reborn took his time to look over the boy. He had strikingly bright orange hair. Was probably 13 or 14. And had Asian features. He was wearing a white hoodie with red sleeves, and jeans, with sneakers over his feet.

He looked like a kid.

The teen looked down at him and shrugged his shoulder. "I Ichigo."

Reborn snorted and desired to take mercy on the boy. Switching languages to speak to the boy in Japanese. "My names Reborn."

The boy blinked in surprise for a moment before a small amount of tension left his frame, switching over to speak in his native tongue. "Ichigo Kurosaki. Checkerface only told me small things to identify you guys. Not your names."

Reborn tilted his head to the side. "I noticed. You did call me Sora afterall."

The boy adopted an embarrassed look and his eyes drifted away. "Yes well. What better way to make me her believe I knew than to know your 'name' even if it was fake."

Reborn snorted amused and gestures for the boy to lead the way to wherever they'd be meeting the others. Ichigo took the hint and started walking towards the left from where they had been standing. The teen looked out of the corner of his eye at Reborn for a moment before speaking. "Which Acrobaleno are you?"

Reborn smirked. "The sun."

Ichigo blinked, before muttering. "The healer." He snorted. "That's irony at its finest."

Reborn pulled his fedora down slightly with a smirk on his face. He made an inquisitive sound to get the boy to continue. "The strongest Hitman is also has the strongest healer flame."

Reborn let an amused smile stretch across his face and he chuckled. "Why yes. I can see the irony." The teen snorted and stopped walking. Sitting on a bench that was in a smaller area I closed by trees, almost devoid of other people.

Reborn hopped up onto the bench effortlessly and sat, looking up at the teen, who was looking around the area. He hummed. "How'd you know I was there? Because unless Checkerface told you about the pacifier's glow, you shouldn't have known."

The boy grunted, looking at him before looking away, a pale blush on his face. "I felt you."

Reborn raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

The boy grunted affirmatively, nodding slightly, "It was like my flame was reaching towards you."

That's when Reborn noticed. His own unharmonized Sun flame was practically wailing in his own veins, in yearning trying to reach out and connect with this boy. He was actually on the verge of harmonizing with him.

Reborn looked up at the boy's face before looking at the surrounding trees. What was worse was that the boy didn't realize his own flames where calling in desperation for other flame users to come and protect their master, and that the boy was completely devoid of any guardians to protect him from the wrong kind of flame users.

It was in that moment their flames clashed together and they both flinched slightly in surprise. Subconsciously feeling it. It had been inevitable. But as he breathed out an inaudible sigh, letting his flames adjust to being harmonized for the first time ever, he found he didn't mind it.

He didn't mind the feeling of being..home.

He looked up at the boy and smirked, in nothing besides mild happiness. The boy was watching him, his eyebrows furrowed slightly more than they had been before.

Well. Reborn wouldn't mind having to spend more time with his sky either.

The boy seemed special. He looked forward to being by this teen's side.

..But he better explain what just happened..and harmonization to the teen. Make sure he fully understood.

Fully understood that he wouldn't be getting rid of Reborn any time soon.


End file.
